“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22 ESV
The completed employment application I held in my hand looked Greek to me. That’s because it was. Greek. New Testament Koine Greek. I recognized it because my husband was in seminary, and I’d seen his Greek textbooks.
I flipped the application to the back. Education, Previous Experience, References – all neatly completed in Greek.
Extreme frustration and disbelief filled me simultaneously. I had to hire almost 100 data entry operators to fill multiple shifts in the department I managed. The expanded staff was for a major long-term project, the start date of which was looming large.
For days, I’d been interviewing from the moment I stepped into my office until I dragged my weary self out at the end of every very long day. And now I sat looking at an employment application filled with Greek. Not modern-day Greek, the old kind. Didn’t really matter, I didn’t know Greek – old or new.
The applicant entered my office and sat down, a smug grin on his face. I held up the application, “What is this?”
“Greek.” Still smug.
“Why?” I asked.
“Welllll, I thought it would impress you,” he said, less smug and now, unsure.
“I’m not impressed. You’ve wasted my time. I’m looking for people with some data entry experience and common sense. Common sense would tell you that completing a job application in a foreign, archaic, unspoken language is not a good plan. Whether you do or don’t have the experience I’m looking for, I’ll never know. I don’t know Greek, and I don’t want someone who has shown a lack of common sense telling me about their experience. We’re done here.”
The no longer smug young man slunk out my office door and out of my life.
Experience talks. Greek walks.
Experience.
Last week, we talked about the importance of hearing God’s truth, absorbing it, meditating on it, and allowing it to control your thinking process. As critically important as that is, even more important is allowing that truth to become a living, active part of your every experience.
How do we do that? How do we experience truth in such a way that it becomes alive in us and begins to change us from the inside out? How do we experience the fullness of God in our lives?
Friend, it doesn’t happen by accident. We don’t trip and fall into godliness, holiness, or right living. It is a process that takes time. Our level of commitment and obedience is a key factor in our experiential growth.
The best news is that God’s divine power, through His Son and Holy Spirit, has graciously made everything we need available to us to experience the fullness of life and godliness. God equips us to experience His truth in such a way that it (truth) comes alive in us as it takes root, grows, and begins to change us from the inside out.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV
God gives us everything we need. Our responsibility is to accept what He has given us, put it into practice, and experience it to the fullest.
That all sounds great, but how do we do that? Here’s a simple, unsurprising list that guides us toward a deeper, more experiential relationship with our Lord.
- Commit to knowing God better through His Word (Psalm 119:11,16,101,105,160; 2 Timothy 2:15)
- Commune with God the Father regularly (Psalm 116:1-2, Jeremiah 33:3, Luke 22:40, Romans 8:26,1 Thessalonians 5:17)
- Conform to God’s guidelines for His children and to the image of His Son (John 17:17; Romans 8:29,12:2)
- Claim the gifts that God has prepared for His children (Ephesians 3:14-21, James 1:5-7, 1 John 3:22, 5:14)
- Convene regularly with God’s people (1 Corinthians 14:25, Ephesians 4:16, Colossians 2:2, 3:14-16)
Maybe you’ve heard this all before: commit, commune, conform, claim, and convene.
But hearing is not doing.
Hearing is not experiencing.
Doing is experiencing if we have set our hearts to follow God closely.
How each of these plays out in our individual lives will look different depending on our life circumstances, responsibilities, and abilities. Regardless of the specifics of your situation, each of these must be factored into our lives if we want to experience the fullness of living for God and honoring Him in our daily lives.
Are you actively experiencing the goodness that God has for you?
It’s written in words we can understand. No Greek. It’s all about experiencing the goodness of God in its fullest.
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV